Passed SCJP 1.4 - 91% :)

Just took the SCJP 1.4 exam in Austin, TX and passed with a 91%! Praise be to Kathy & Berts wonderful book! And this wonderful ranch! I had no Java programming experience (or OO for that matter) coming into the exam and both were indispensable. Started studying on April 21,2003 and spent the next 2.5 months reading and rereading THE BOOK and started taking mock exams this last week. I have to say wish their were more geared for 1.4 ones. Bill Brogden's Exam (online) and the LearnKey MasterExams that came with the book and the extra one online were the ones that I spent the most on (and the ones that most resembled the actual exam). Dan Chisholm's Mock Exam is good for learning and picking up some edge cases, but it is not good if you wan to get a good feeling for the actual exam. To wrap up I'd like to say one more time that Kathy & Berts book is great! It's a wonderful read and worth it's weight in GOLD!!! Kathy & Berts I owe you guys a beer if you are ever in Austin

Congrats too.... I am surprised that you are able to do so well, without having any OO language before this. You success has made me think that I can do the same too. Are you from Structured language background?

addictarmy, Congratulations and welcome to Javaranch, a friendly place for Java greenhorns We ain't got many rules 'round these parts, but we do got one. Please change your displayed name to comply with the JavaRanch Naming Policy. Thanks Pardner! Hope to see you 'round the Ranch!

Yes, I am. By day I am a Quality Assurance Engineer and I have done a lot of automation using tools like WinRunner, LoadRunner, Silk Test, Rational Robot, etc, all of which are very procedural and "C" like in their programming structure. I have also done a fair share of shell scripting (bash, perl, python). OO was a tough hurdle at first, but the ranch here really spelled things out for me.

Hi Paul, I am so inspired with your success....coming from a non-OO background, the journey can be tough. I am currently reading K&B book too. Will need to do the exam in Sept, which means I have less than 3 months left now....

Paul Zill
Greenhorn

Joined: Jun 12, 2003
Posts: 28

posted Jul 11, 2003 08:55:00

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Good luck Jessica. I'd recommend saving the downloadable master exam from learn key for the very end. I took some online 1.4 exams, and the one on the cd a lot about a week before the exam and saved the extra downloadable one for right before the exam. I believe this exam will give you a good idea of how you will do on the actual exam.

Jessica Lang
Ranch Hand

Joined: Jul 23, 2002
Posts: 61

posted Jul 14, 2003 06:58:00

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Thanks Paul for the advice. Can I know how long (hrs) did u spend daily for the past 2.5 months that you spent in preparing for the exam? I know it is tough when one needs to work fulltime too.

Paul Zill
Greenhorn

Joined: Jun 12, 2003
Posts: 28

posted Jul 14, 2003 08:04:00

0

I spent around 3-4 hours after work on the weekdays and probablly around 6 hours on the weekends consistently for 2.5 months. With the last week just taking as many 1.4 practice exams as I could and saving the downloadable one for last. [ July 14, 2003: Message edited by: Paul Zill ]